


Never Again

by houdini74



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Committed Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 17:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18579166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/houdini74/pseuds/houdini74
Summary: Wedding planning is stressful, but it's Patrick who's feeling the worst of it.





	Never Again

He’d thought that asking David to marry him would be the hard part. It had certainly been the happiest part. Thinking about the moment when David had said yes and how he had wrapped his arms around him filled him with joy. And even though he’d been nervous at the time, somehow all of the wedding planning that had come after was more stressful than that moment.

He hadn’t told David about the sense of panic he was feeling about the wedding preparations. It wasn’t about getting married. He would have happily gone with David to City Hall that second and married him if it meant they could start their lives together. But something about the endless list of things to do and decisions to be made him feel anxious and out of control.

He hadn’t loved the wedding planning process the first time around either. Rachel’s mother had taken charge of the entire event early on in their engagement and she had ordered them both to participate in what seemed like an endless parade of cake tastings and venue visits. It had been one more example of how overwhelmed he’d felt in his previous life. While the relief he’d felt at finally bringing that performance to an end had been lost in the greater emotions that came from ending his engagement, he could still sense the echo of those feelings as he and David planned their wedding.

David was in his element. He had lists and photos and color boards for every different aspect of the wedding and just thinking about it made Patrick’s head spin. For the most part, he’d confined himself to worrying about the budget, knowing that trying to influence David’s creative decisions would just add to the stress for both of them. Trying to fit everything within their available budget was taking all of his creative energy as it was.

He was trying to reconcile the invoices that David had given him this morning with the categories in the budget he’d created when he heard the bell over the front door ring.

“Where did your fiance go, did you two have a fight?” Patrick looked up to see Stevie coming in the front door of the store. He blushed a little, looking away from Stevie’s direct gaze. It had been six months and he still wasn’t used to hearing people refer to David as his fiance. Secretly, he hoped he never got used to the thrill it gave him. He could tell that Stevie knew what he was thinking from the half-grimace she gave him.

“He went to get coffee.” Patrick replied. “You’ll have to take your quest for drama somewhere else.”

“You can’t blame me for trying. I mean, how long can the two of you keep up this level of revolting sweetness?”

“So, you’re hoping something will go wrong?” Patrick asked quizzically. 

“Well...no…” Stevie’s knowing look turned sheepish. 

Patrick smirked and let her off the hook. He knew Stevie was one of his and David’s biggest cheerleaders, not that she’d ever admit it.

“What’s up?” he asked instead.

“So, you know how David asked me to be your best man...best woman...best person?” Patrick laughed, he wasn’t entirely sure what to call Stevie’s role in their wedding either, but both he and David had agreed that she was the only choice, regardless of the official title. He would never tell her, but she had been an anchor for him amidst the other wedding insanity. 

“Yeah?”

“Well, I thought it was only fair to see if you had any requests for how you wanted me to torture him at the bachelor party.” 

“Definitely karaoke. And a tacky party hat.”

“And a pinata!” They both began to laugh loudly at the thought of David having to deal with dollar store party decorations. Patrick had a sudden thought and he stopped laughing.

“Wait, are you asking David the same question?” He was suddenly very afraid that they’d made a terrible mistake. 

“I’ll have you know that I take this role very seriously,” Stevie replied.

“Oh god,” Patrick put his head in his hands as David came through the door and handed him his tea.

“What? What’s going on?” David demanded.

“It’s nothing, nothing at all,” Stevie said as she slipped out the door.

Patrick looked at David, a look of amused distress on his face. “Is it possible to fire a member of your wedding party?”

“With Stevie? Probably not, she’d just take it upon herself to do it anyway.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that. It’s a good thing I love you or I might consider calling the whole thing off.”

David grinned at him. “I guess if Stevie’s not enough to make you change your mind, we’re probably in it for real, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Patrick replied with a soft smile. “I think we are.”

David leaned against the store counter and flipped through his phone. Over his shoulder, Patrick could see a variety of flower arrangements. He came over to stand beside David.

“Are you picking out centerpieces without me?”

“Based on your earlier contributions, I think it goes without saying that I will definitely be picking out centerpieces without you,” David replied with a grin. “Peonies and roses? What is this, a 1980s soap opera?”

“I hope not, or your mother might want a starring role,” Patrick said cheekily, startling a laugh out of David.

“Let’s not give her ideas. More ideas. Let’s not give her more ideas.” 

Patrick laughed, there had been a moment after they had announced their engagement when he had been afraid that Mrs Rose was going to appoint herself as the director of their wedding. His anxiety flared up again at the thought of Mrs Rose having any influence on the planning. He forced his attention back to David.

“What do you think of this?” David showed him a photo of a flower arrangement. It was a modern arrangement comprised of dark blue, black and cream colored flowers. Patrick smiled, it was completely and unquestionably them. 

“Out of curiosity, what if I hated it?” he asked. 

“If you really hated it, I’d find something else. You’d be wrong, but I’d find something else.” David paused. “Do you hate it?”

“No, it’s perfect, it reminds me of us.”

He pressed his shoulder against David’s, watching as he flipped through more of the photos on his phone. Watching David enjoy himself, he felt his worry about the wedding recede. If planning their wedding made David happy, he could push his nerves aside.

It was after five, so they closed up the store, reconciling the cash, doing a final check of the displays and locking the door. Patrick finished the last of his tea before grabbing his keys and their daily deposit and heading to the back door where David was waiting to head back to their apartment.

In the apartment, Patrick flipped on the lights in the kitchen and dropped the deposit and his keys on the table as David pulled a bottle of wine off of the rack at the end of the counter and poured two glasses. 

Patrick settled onto the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table. David made himself comfortable at the other end of the sofa, putting his feet in Patrick’s lap. Patrick reached over and squeezed David’s calf, resting his hand on David’s leg. It still surprised Patrick how still and quiet David could be. While he loved the times when they talked and laughed, he truly treasured these silent, calm moments they spent together.

“I was texting with your mom about the wedding today,” David said. Patrick smiled, somehow his mom had become David’s confidant for the wedding and David seemed to appreciate her drama-free approach that was so different from that of his own family. 

“She found this historic house in Elm Valley that does weddings. They even have a cherry orchard so we can be outside.”

“Wait, does this mean that you’re going to accept someone else’s input into where our wedding will be?” After his initial suggestions had been met with eye rolls, Patrick had told David that he didn’t care about the decorations or the venue as long as it meant they were married by the end of it.

David’s mouth twisted. “I mean, I’m just going to look. But your mom’s sent me some other ideas and she has pretty good taste.”

“Better than mine, you mean?” David smirked at him. 

David flipped himself around so that his head was in Patrick’s lap. Patrick smiled down at him and began to run his fingers through David’s hair. As always, David couldn’t stop himself from making a small noise of protest.

“No one is going to see you,” Patrick said fondly.

“Someone could just spontaneously stop by. And then where would we be?” David complained, as Patrick continued to run his hands through his hair.

Looking down after a few minutes, he could tell that David was on the verge of falling asleep.

“Hey,” he said softly, brushing a few stray locks of hair off of David’s forehead. He had definitely ruined David’s look by running his fingers through his hair, but he loved seeing David look like he’d had his hands on him.

“Mmm hmm?” David replied without opening his eyes. 

“Do you want dinner, or are you going straight to sleep?”

David didn’t open his eyes, but he reached a hand up to cup the back of Patrick’s neck and pulled him close for a kiss. 

“Is there a third option?” David asked.

Patrick ran his hand down David’s arm, kissing him more deeply. He was kissing his way along David’s jawline when his cell rang and his parents’ number popped up on the display. He took a breath and disentangled himself from David.

“Hi Mom.”

“Patrick, honey, how are you?” Hearing his mom’s voice made him smile. He twisted his free hand in David’s hair, not quite ready to leave what they had started.

“I’m great, mom. It was a busy day, but that’s good for the store,” he replied.

“Listen, honey, is David there?” 

“Sure, just a sec.” He smiled as he held the phone out to David. His parents used to call about once a week and often his mom would spend more time on the call with David than she did with him. But now that the planning for the wedding had kicked into high gear, it seemed like David and his mom talked on the phone almost every day. He thought it was sweet that his mom still called his cell when she wanted to talk to David, as if she wanted to be sure he didn’t feel left out. 

At first, he’d thought it was weird for his mom to spend so much time talking to his fiance, but he’d come to appreciate how much the calls meant to David. As much as he enjoyed Mrs Rose, there was no question that her relationships with everyone, including David, were unorthodox. Patrick thought that part of the reason David liked talking to his mom was because he finally got to have a normal maternal relationship for the first time in his life. 

“Hi Marcy.” David sat up and wandered into the kitchen, pulling out one of the chairs at the kitchen table. 

While David was on the phone, Patrick headed over to his desk and opened his laptop. He wanted to spend some more time looking at their budget for the wedding. He couldn’t wait until it was over. He wanted to be married to David more than anything, and he longed for the day when he didn’t have to think about flowers and wedding cakes. From the other side of the room, he could hear David’s half of the conversation.

“Mmm hmm...well, there’s a new place in Elmdale that might have something, I’d like to try there.”

He opened the laptop and began to dig into the numbers.

“Yeah, I’m thinking cream with blue and black highlights? Mmm hmm…”

Half an hour later, he closed the laptop and headed to the kitchen. David was sitting on the couch making notes in his black notebook. He leaned against the kitchen counter. David put down his notebook and came to join him.

“I made dinner while you were working,” David said.

“Yeah? Did you make pizza or Chinese?” 

David smirked, “Pizza. It should be here in twenty minutes.” 

“How’s my mom?” he asked with a grin. 

“Your mom,” David smiled back at him, “Is great. She just sent me a list of possible bakeries for the cake.”

David’s expression turned serious and he looked at Patrick carefully. “You don’t mind that I’m spending all this time talking to your mom about the wedding, do you?”

He slid his arms around David’s waist and pulled him close. “Of course I don’t, I know she’s really happy to be included.” He pressed a kiss to the corner of David’s jaw, hoping to pick up where they’d left off before the phone call. 

David looked relieved. “I’m really glad she’s been able to help. I really like her, she’s easy to talk to and she always has good suggestions for the wedding...” 

“David…” he breathed as he used his teeth on David’s earlobe, “...stop talking about my mom.”

There was a loud knock at the door. He groaned and gave David one last kiss, before opening the door to find Alexis standing in the hallway. She was carrying a large portfolio case.

“What are you doing here?” David demanded from behind him.

“Ew, David. What happened to your hair?” Alexis asked. David shot a disgusted look at Patrick.

“Nothing happened to my hair. Why are you here?”

“David, the wedding is in six months and you don’t even have a plan!” Alexis pushed past him and set the portfolio case on the table. “Lucky for you, I have a gap in my schedule so I put together a few ideas.”

Patrick felt like a year’s worth of wedding planning anxiety had suddenly landed on his shoulders. He could feel his stomach tighten at the thought of someone other than David or himself making decisions about their wedding. 

“The wedding planning is fine.” Patrick could hear the stress that was often a result of dealing with the other Roses creeping into David’s voice. Patrick felt his own shoulders start to tense up as he worried about the idea of Alexis taking control of their wedding.

“But David, how can it be fine? It’s been six months and we haven’t even talked about the theme!” Alexis opened the portfolio case and pulled out several large pieces of paper. 

“That’s because it’s not about you! And you just got back two weeks ago!” David’s frustration with his sister was starting to get the better of him.

“Well, okay, if Patrick has an opinion, I’m sure we can include that as well.” Alexis gave him a doubtful look.

“Oh my god! Alexis, believe it or not, but I am fully capable of planning this wedding. Marcy and I have everything under control.” Patrick winced at the mention of his mom. He was sure that her involvement would only escalate things with Alexis.

“Who’s Marcy?” He could see that David realized his mistake as soon as Alexis asked the question. 

“Marcy is my mom,” Patrick said to Alexis.

“Oh my god, David! Patrick’s mom gets to help plan your wedding but your own sister, a trained professional, isn’t allowed to help? I can’t believe you would be so selfish as to keep me out of the biggest day of your life!”

“It’s our day. Patrick’s and mine. Not yours!” The stress was becoming more and more apparent in David’s voice and Patrick could see that this was starting to shift from sibling squabble to something more serious. He realized that he was digging his fingernails into his palms and forced himself to unclench his hands.

Most of the time, Patrick considered himself to be immune to the Rose family blend of drama and selfishness. Being with David, he’d learned to see the good intentions that usually lurked below the surface. But he could feel his panic at the thought of losing control of the wedding planning rising in the back of his mind. He knew Alexis meant well, but all he could see was the next few months stretching in front of them as their wedding fell victim to Alexis’ demands. 

Normally, he would be prepared to shrug off Alexis’s self absorption and let David handle his own family, but he’d finally had enough of Alexis and her implied suggestions of David’s incompetence and her willingness to make things more and not less stressful for both of them. David had his arms crossed and was staring at Alexis with a defensive grimace on his face. 

“Fine, David. If you and Patrick’s mom,” Alexis waved dismissively in Patrick’s direction, “want to plan this wedding, don’t come to me when it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to.”

“Okay,” Patrick said tersely. “I think you should leave.” Silence fell as both David and Alexis looked at him in shock. He was suddenly worried that David would think he had gone too far until he felt David’s hand grip the back of his neck and squeeze gently. 

“Ugh. Fine.” Alexis swept her papers into the portfolio case and swept out of the apartment, closing the door loudly behind her.

“Fuck.” Patrick knew that he hadn’t heard the last of this.

***

Patrick woke before his alarm. He looked over to see David’s dark hair on the pillow beside him, his smile grew as he watched his fiance sleeping. This morning though, his usual delight at waking up next to David was diminished by the memory of Alexis’s visit last night. He knew that he shouldn’t have let his frustration get the better of him. With a sigh, he pressed a kiss to David’s temple and slipped out of bed and headed for the kitchen. 

As the tea and coffee brewed, he sat at the kitchen table and opened his laptop to catch up on some emails before they headed out. He’d been working for about an hour when he heard David get out of bed. David came into the kitchen, his bare feet soft on the floor. He was wearing a white t-shirt and black sweats and his hair pointed in all directions. Placing one hand at the back of Patrick’s head, he leaned down to kiss him warmly.

“Morning, sleepy.” Patrick said as he returned David’s kiss.

“How long have you been up?”

“Not long.” Patrick closed the laptop. “Breakfast here or at the cafe?”

He watched David weigh the pros and cons of eating cereal in his pajamas or getting dressed and having a real breakfast. 

“Cafe,” David said, his desire for food outweighing his resistance to getting ready.

“So, about what happened last night with your sister...” Patrick occupied himself by fiddling with a spare paperclip that was on the table, not wanting to look at David.

“My sister needs to stay out of our wedding.” David put a hand behind Patrick’s neck, tilting his head up to his. “Besides,” he said in a low voice, “I do love it when you get all worked up.” He bent to kiss Patrick again, his lips parting with a smile. 

Patrick returned his kiss, before breaking away. “She means well, I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

“Chances are that she’ll be over it before you see her next.” David’s hand tightened on the back of Patrick’s neck, pulling him back towards him. He hummed with pleasure, kissing his way along Patrick’s neck.

Patrick slid his hands along David’s waist, coming to rest on his hips. “We’re going to be late for work.”

“Don’t care,” David murmured as he nibbled at the spot behind Patrick’s ear. 

Patrick gasped a little, trying to muster the wherewithal to pull away. “I know you don’t care, if it was up to you, we wouldn’t open until noon.”

“Reasonable people aren’t out before noon anyway.” 

“Breakfast.” Patrick stood up and took a half step back out of David’s reach. He knew that the promise of food was the only possible distraction that might work to motivate David to get ready to leave.

“Fine,” David leaned forward and kissed him, much more chastely than moments before. “But we are definitely not done with this conversation.”

As they came in the door of the cafe, Patrick saw that Alexis and Mrs Rose were seated in their usual booth. He felt a knot form in his stomach. He didn’t really want to continue last night’s conversation with Alexis in public. Before he could react, Mrs Rose had spotted them and waved them over to the table. 

As they came up to the table, Alexis extricated herself from the booth. 

“I can’t stay,” she announced. “I have a meeting with a client who actually appreciates me.”

Patrick winced to himself. Despite David’s assurance, it had been too much to hope that Alexis might have gotten past what happened last night, and clearly she was still put out by the situation. With a sigh, he took a seat in the booth opposite Mrs Rose, placing his hand on David’s leg and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“David, we are rapidly accelerating towards your nuptials,” Mrs Rose used her fork to pick a grape out of her fruit cocktail. “And yet it appears you have done almost nothing to formulate a plan for this undertaking. Fortunately, Alexis and I have developed a course of action to prevent this occasion from becoming yet another calamity.”

Beneath his hand, he could feel David’s muscles tense. He squeezed David’s leg again, vowing to stay quiet this time, even as he felt his own anxiety build. The thought of Alexis running their wedding was bad enough, but Mrs Rose was in a completely different category.

“I know that circumstances will no longer allow for the champagne waterfall,” Mrs Rose looked at Patrick, who did his best to look as serious as possible while he shook his head. “However, Jocelyn has a friend who can release a hundred pigeons during the ceremony.”

“We are not releasing a flock of birds during the wedding!” The frustration was evident on David’s face and Patrick felt his own tension grow. “And I don’t know what Alexis told you, but the wedding planning is fine!”

“Now, David,” Mrs Rose looked at him pityingly, “It’s alright to admit that you need help with an undertaking of this magnitude. Alexis and I just want to ensure that this day is given the significance it deserves. Having the proper locality and appurtenances is important for any production. When I directed Cabaret, I searched high and low for exactly the right pieces that set the ambience for the performance.” 

“Okay, well this isn’t a theatre production, it’s our wedding. So we won’t be needing any birds or circus performers or chorus lines.” Patrick could feel David’s stress increasing and he rubbed his leg gently.

“David, we simply want to ensure this occasion is worthy of the Rose family name and give you all the help you undoubtedly need.” Mrs Rose smiled at them over the rim of her coffee cup. “Wouldn’t you agree, Patrick”

“No.” Patrick said firmly. It seemed as though this wedding was destined to put him into conflict with all of the other members of the Rose family, but he wanted to be sure that he and David got what he wanted.

“I’m sorry?” Mrs Rose seemed genuinely taken aback by his disagreement.

“I know you’re trying to help, but it’s not necessary.” He was trying to be polite, but he could feel his patience wearing thin.

“Patrick, dear, I know that you both are invested in this event, but neither you nor David have the necessary experience to deliver a celebration of this magnitude.” Mrs Rose reached across the table to pat his hand gently. “I simply must insist that you allow me to assist with a few of the more essential details of this important day.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Patrick said curtly as he pulled his hand away. “We are going to plan this wedding the way we see fit and if you don’t like it, that’s too bad.” He could tell instantly that he’d gone too far. Mrs Rose pushed her breakfast aside and gathered up her things.

“Let me know when you’re prepared to be reasonable, David,” she said as she marched out of the cafe. Patrick put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. He felt David put an arm around his shoulders.

“Your whole family is going to hate me before this wedding is over.” David began to rub his back gently.

“I don’t think my dad has an opinion about our wedding, so you might be okay there.” With a groan, Patrick leaned his head against the back of the booth.

***

Despite David’s comments about reasonable people staying home until noon, the morning was busy at the store. He could hear David’s phone buzzing throughout the morning with text messages, during a break in the morning traffic he saw David pick up his phone and huff in annoyance.

“Everything okay?”

“Just my mom texting the number of the guy with the pigeons.”

“And Alexis with a six-point plan for our wedding.”

“And my mom again wanting to know if we’ve thought about a horse and carriage because Bob knows someone.”

“And a message from the guy with the pigeons! Oh my god!”

“And another message from Alexis. She says to give this to you and there’s a link to something called ‘Wedding Planning for Dummies.’” David looked confused. “What is that, is that a real thing?”

He couldn’t take it anymore. He began to pace around the store, running his hands through his hair as he went.

“Oh my god! Why can’t they leave it alone! We don’t need pigeons or carriages or six-point plans. We told them we don’t need any of that! Why can’t they just respect that we know what we want? Maybe if they were paying for the wedding, they could tell us what to do, but we don’t need any of that! All I need is you, none of the rest of it matters!” He was panting, half shouting as he came to stop in front of David.

“Hey, shhh, it’s fine.” David wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him close. Patrick rested his head on David’s shoulder and closed his eyes. As he felt David run his hands along his shoulders and down his back, David’s phone buzzed with yet another text.

“Now what!?” he demanded frantically.

“It’s Mrs Wilson, she wants to know what time I’ll be at her farm this afternoon.”

Patrick started to laugh helplessly as the stress of the past couple of days caught up with him. “God, David,” he said desperately. He hugged David tighter, burying his face in his neck. David held him just as tightly, arms around his neck, rocking them back and forth. 

After a long moment, he heard David murmur in his ear. “Are you going to be okay?” He nodded, not quite ready to leave David’s arms. David wasn’t finished, “Did you mean it when you said you didn’t care about the wedding?”

He pulled back far enough to look David in the eyes. “I care that you care. I want you to have the perfect wedding. If that means pigeons and carriages, then we’ll find a way to do that.”

David smiled, “We’re definitely not doing either of those things.” 

***

After lunch, David headed out to visit Mrs Wilson. Patrick was restocking during the after lunch lull when Stevie came in the door. She was carrying a stack of black and white trucker’s style ball caps. She spread them out on the counter.

“Pick one.”

Patrick looked at the hats. Each one had a different slogan on the front. The slogans ranged from mildly cheesy to a couple that were so obscene they made him blush a little.

“Who am I picking this for?”

“David, of course. Don’t worry, I have something very different in mind for you.”

He scowled at her and considered the choices, but his heart wasn’t in it. He shoved the hats to one side and leaned on the counter. Stevie raised her eyebrows at him.

“Something wrong?”

He sighed and stacked the hats in a pile. “It’s nothing, really, just the usual pre-wedding problems with the Rose family.” He gave her a strained smile and rearranged the hats again.

“Have you talked to David about this? Where is David, anyway?” A look of worry crossed Stevie’s face.

“He’s at Mrs Wilson’s farm, picking up our order. And I did talk to him, he didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“But you do? So what happened, anyway?”

With a grimace he recounted his conflicts with Alexis and Mrs Rose. “I know I shouldn’t let them get to me, you’d think I’d be used to the way they operate by now, but it makes me angry when they try to take over. I didn’t notice it as much when David still lived at the motel, but now, with the wedding…”

“Now it’s in your face.”

“Yeah,” he said unhappily. He stared at the hats. David was going to hate them, it was a good choice on Stevie’s part.

“I know that you know that this is just how they are and I feel I should point out that you’re going to be marrying the whole bunch of them so you might want to pick your battles?”

“Yeah,” he said again.

“As far as Alexis goes, have you considered that she might be feeling a bit left out?”

He considered Stevie’s observation. Alexis had gotten back from the Galapagos two weeks ago, long after they had begun on the wedding planning. He suspected that she had hoped that they would have waited until she returned to begin the wedding preparations. He took a deep breath.

“I guess I shouldn’t have been so hard on her.”

Stevie shrugged. “You’re dealing with a group of people who have never had a normal reaction to anything.”

He pulled the hat that said ‘Cheers, Bitches’ out of the pile and handed it to Stevie. “He’ll hate them all, but you might actually be able to make him wear this one.”

Stevie took the hat with a grin and put it on the top of the pile. 

“So, any insights into Mrs Rose?”

Stevie laughed. “You’re on your own with that. My bet is somewhere between she’ll never speak to you again or she’s forgotten who you are.”

***

“I want to stop by the motel on the way home,” David said as they were unpacking the order from Mrs Wilson. “I want to wear my Givenchy sweatshirt tomorrow.” Even though David had officially moved into Patrick’s apartment, the vast majority of his clothes were still at the motel due to what he described as ‘shockingly inadequate’ closet space.”

“Which one?” he asked David with a smirk. David rolled his eyes at him.

“The one with the...wait...how do you know I have more than one?”

Patrick shrugged, he hadn’t really known, but he knew David well enough to guess that if he owned one Givenchy sweatshirt, then he probably owned several. Teasing David about his clothes helped ease the knot in his stomach about having to see Alexis or Mrs Rose.

“Unless you’d rather not run into my family right now? In which case, I could go now and come back?”

He sighed. He appreciated David trying to protect him, but he knew he couldn’t avoid the other Roses forever. “No, I should talk to your sister.”

“And my mom?” David asked with smirk.

“I should talk to your sister,” he repeated, not quite prepared to deal with Mrs Rose.

As they finished unpacking the order, he took one of the new jars of hand cream and set it aside. David raised an eyebrow at him, curious.

“For Alexis,” he said.

“I hope you’re planning to pay for that,” David said, flippantly. “Someone I know says it’s a bad business practice to be giving away your inventory.”

They pulled up to the motel. Patrick was about to knock on the door of Alexis’s room when David pushed past him to open the door.

“Oh my god, David!” He heard Alexis exclaim from inside the room. “You don’t live here anymore! The least you could do is knock!”

Alexis was sitting in front of the counter that she’d converted to a makeshift office, working on her laptop. Patrick could see that she’d spread papers that he assumed were from work projects across David’s bed.

“I love what you’ve done with the place,” David was saying. “It’s a very Kate Spade meets Hoarders vibe.”

Alexis narrowed her eyes at David. “You. Don’t. Live. Here. Anymore.” she said sharply. “I’m surprised you even remember how to find your way back here.”

Patrick twisted the jar of hand cream in his hands, watching Alexis closely. Last night, he’d thought her attempt to take control of their wedding had been the typical blend of confidence and tone deafness that the Roses exhibited whenever they thought they should be in charge, but now he wondered if there was something more going on.

“Maybe if you’d actually been here for the past six months, I would have had more of reason to visit,” David fired back at his sister.

“Don’t go out of your way on my account,” Alexis responded with a huff, turning back to her computer.

Patrick moved across the room, squeezing David’s shoulder on his way by, and put the hand cream in front of Alexis. He pulled out the chair from the table and sat down across from her. David stood with his arms crossed, staring at Alexis with a frustrated look on his face.

“Weren’t you going to look for that sweater?” Patrick asked David.

“Fine.” David huffed as he turned to leave for the other room where his clothes were stored. He shut the door behind him with a sharp click.

“So,” Patrick said to Alexis once David had left. “It must seem really quiet here now that you have the room to yourself.” He saw Alexis’s shoulders tense briefly and she reached out to tap a finger on the jar of hand cream but she didn’t respond.

“It’s okay if you miss him,” he said softly.

Alexis turned to face him. “I thought everything would be the same when I got back, but it’s not. And it’s a lot harder being the only one here with mom and dad than I thought it would be.”

Without warning, the adjoining door to the other motel room burst open, revealing Mrs Rose in the doorway. Patrick felt his heart sink, he wasn’t quite sure how she would react after what happened this morning. 

“Oh, Patrick dear, how is the wedding planning going?”

He looked at Mrs Rose carefully, not sure if she was having him on or if she’d forgotten their earlier argument. “Everything is on track?” he said cautiously. 

“Wonderful, I’m sure everything will work out as it’s supposed to. Alexis, have you seen my Hermes handbag? It’s the only one that goes with this outfit.”

Alexis rolled her eyes. “Did you look on the shelf with all of your other handbags?”

“I never put the Hermes on the shelf, it doesn’t like heights.”

“Well, okay, but did you look there anyway?”

Mrs Rose retreated back into her room and moments later they heard a positive exclamation as she discovered the missing handbag. He exchanged a knowing glance with Alexis.

“I’m sorry about last night,” he said, “I might have overreacted.”

Alexis reached out and booped him on the nose with her finger. “You wouldn’t be part of this family if you didn’t overreact once and awhile.”

“Nobody warned me it would be contagious,” he said with a smile.

***

As they came in the door of the apartment, Patrick turned on the lights in the kitchen as David set his stack of sweaters he’d picked up at the motel on the bed. He sat on the bed and watched David try to fit the sweaters into the wardrobe beside the bed.

“I thought you just wanted to get the one sweater?” Patrick asked, amused.

“Mmm, I saw all these others that I hadn’t worn lately, so…” David turned back towards the bed to pick up the next sweater from the pile. Needing to touch him, Patrick reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him close so that he was standing between his knees. He leaned forward so that the top of his head was resting against David’s stomach. David put his hands on his head and gently ran his fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck. 

David moved his hands down Patrick’s back, his strong fingers gently massaging along Patrick’s spine. Patrick closed his eyes, unable to stop a small groan from escaping from his lips. 

“You can do that forever,” he said quietly. David leaned down to lay a kiss on the top of Patrick’s head, his hands continuing their journey down Patrick’s back. 

Several minutes later, Patrick lifted his head as David smoothed his hands up Patrick’s back one last time.

“Good?” David asked softly.

“Mmm. Thank you.” Patrick tilted his head back so that David could kiss him on the lips. 

“Did you sort things out with Alexis?”

“Hmm...mostly,” He slid his hands under David’s shirt and ran them along the edge of his jeans, welcoming the distraction from the day’s events.

“Mostly?”

“She misses you.” 

David rolled his eyes and looked away, his usual response to any emotional conversation. “Well, maybe I could see if she wanted to go for breakfast sometimes. Unless that’s weird, setting up a regular date with your sister?”

“I think it’s sweet.”

“And you’re okay?” David asked softly, “Because if you’re going to be this stressed out for the next six months, it’s not worth it. We could just elope instead.”

Patrick stood up so that he could put his arms around David’s waist. “I’m okay,” he said, leaning forward to kiss David tenderly. “I just want you to know that after this wedding is over, I am never getting married again.”


End file.
